Book number 2 in the League of Lords series, and this is a really fun, interesting offering from Tracy Sumner. Our two main characters are Lady Victoria Hamilton and Finn Alexander (aka the Blue Bastard), Finn can read minds, and has the reputation of a playboy, and a scoundrel. He’s dreaming about Lady Victoria, whom he has never met. Lady Victoria also has a gift of both moving time, and blocking others supernatural powers. She decides that the two of them should be friends. And so, the story is off at breakneck speed.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Magic. Long has it been debated on whether it truly exists. Yet, exist it does, and in the most noble of women.
Through time women have dabbled in magic, some have even died for it. Here are the stories of amazing, beautiful, adventurous women who happen to be a dying race of witches that were cursed by one of their own centuries ago and the men who stood by their side.
SHADOW MAGIC
With a past soaked in sin and darkness slowly closing in around him to claim his soul, Drogan only wants to live his life in solitude. Years in the king’s service and his numerous deeds directed by the crown have left Drogan with horrendous nightmares and immeasurable guilt…
Serena is a witch, cursed and forever alone. She accepts her future. Until she meets Drogan. With Drogan a passion deep and unyielding awakens inside her. She is willing to sacrifice herself for his love, but can he put his past to rest and embrace the future?
This is a relaunch of a previously released book by Donna Grant from early in her career. It is well written, with great characters and good world building. If you’ve read other books by Donna, you can see how she has grown as a writer over time. In this book we meet Serena of Hawthorne who is a bana-bhuidseach (a witch) and Drogan, Lord of Wolfglynn, with secondary characters of Gerald of Hawthorne and his wife and new baby. Serena is bearing a curse, which is an important part of the story and is a seer who gets glimpses of possible futures. From these pieces, Donna Grant weaves an intricate tale of magic, evil, and love. This 3-book series is interwoven with the presence of both magic and evil, and how it affects all the people involved. I enjoyed how Donna Grant uses both of her main characters to tell the story which is set in England during the reign of King Henry, probably during the 1400s.
The next book in the series is Echoes of Magic, and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I was given a copy of the book through BookFunnel, and this is my honest opinion.
I wanted to read this book because of the setting being in Ireland. And it is, in what anyone not from Ireland, exactly how you’d picture it. Our three main characters are Grace and Ava Kelly and Shane Egan. Grace and Ava have left the village of Emerald Bay a year ago for the bright lights, big city of London. Ava broke up with Shane before she left because he wouldn’t leave the village to go with her. Shane is part of his family’s business, a fisherman who believes that he can’t leave his father and brothers. Neither Ava or Shane have moved on, even though Grace is pushing Ava to forget Shane, and Shane had told Ava there was no coming back to him. This is the basic setup for the book, which take place just before Christmas. I felt the story of Ava and Shane was resolved fairly quickly and satisfactorily, but this creates another problem for the pair, and this part of the story seemed to take a long time to be resolved.
The book is well written with good main characters and supporting characters, with no noticeable grammatical errors. The plotline seems to drag in places, which is why my rating is 3.5 Stars, rounded up to 4 stars. An enjoyable book, but not enough conflict or tension.
I was given an ARC of the book through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant returns to the beautiful and mysterious Isle of Skye with a captivating tale of magic, mystery, and unexpected passion.
A desire that won’t be denied.
Ferne Crawford is a Seer with unique abilities that set her apart from other Druids. She once ignored her magic with tragic results. So, when she’s bombarded with visions of a great evil that call her to a place she’s been warned never to go, she’s powerless to resist. Her life takes a drastic turn the moment she arrives on Skye and encounters a handsome, valiant stranger. Theo makes her ache for his touch. Their meeting stirs an explosive passion, awakening a yearning that only he can satisfy. However, there’s more than the malice which brought her to the isle that intends her harm.
Detective Inspector Theo Frasier carries the weight of the isle and his people on his shoulders. With more Druid murders and no leads on who’s controlling the killing mist, he’s beginning to feel the strain. The last thing he needs is anything—or anyone—distracting him. But once he meets Ferne, he can’t get her out of his head. Or his heart. She fills his every thought, day and night. His need for her consumes him, pushing everything else aside. But will his love be enough to save them from the growing threat?
This book and story remind me of Donna Grant’s earlier books in the Dark Sword, Dark Warriors, and Dark Kings series. These three series, along with her Reapers series are the backbone and back history of the two current series, of which Heart of Glass is book 3 of the Skye Druids. This book starts with Theo Frasier, Detective Inspector with the local police trying to find out who is controlling a deadly mist that is killing Druids. He meets Ferne Crawford, a Druid Seer, who felt compelled to come to Skye from Edinburgh. These two people meet, and both feel a connection to the other. Donna Grant shows the reader how to write an intricate mystery, with a romance added to make the book even more intriguing. Both main characters are very well developed and have flaws and secrets. The supporting cast is quite large, with most of them having been either main characters in earlier books, or friends and/or family of the main characters. Every book gives these characters more depth. Heart of Glass is very fast paced with enough pauses to catch your breath before moving to the next surprising element. If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. Donna Grant has written a fantastic story that adds more details to the Dark Universe she’s created. If you’ve never read any of Donna’s books, reading this as a standalone might be confusing, but the prior books are the links in the chain, and are worth the time to read them for the best experience.
I was given an ARC by the author through BookFunnel, and this is my honest opinion.
This is a prequel to the Dark Kings books, but also the Dark Sword and Dark Warriors. It is a story of the Dragons on Earth, when there are only dragons. We learn about them, their Kings, and the King of Dragon Kings. In particular we meet Lennox, the King of Silvers and the King of Kings. And we also meet a Fae, a Dark Fae named Allis, who has been watching her world, inhabited by both Dark and Light Fae start to fall apart and into war. She’s alone with no living family, and decides she is going to try and create a Fae Doorway, something no other Fae has been able to accomplish. Either she creates it or dies trying, but she has to get away from her world. This is the set-up Donna Grant has written to introduce us to our two main characters. Lennox, the strongest dragon on Earth, has underlying compassion and intelligence. Allis is a frightened woman who truly only wants to explore new places as her aunt had encouraged her to before her death. This is a must read if you’re a fan of Donna’s Dark Universe and gives us some history of an important character who we’ve all been waiting for their story. Mind! Donna Grant doesn’t give us all the information we want in this book, which gave me more questions, but it does tell us how things were playing out for our Dragons before humans enter onto the scene. Well written as always, my only negative is that the middle of the book seemed to go on and on longer than it needed. But the overall story is 5 Stars.
I was given and ARC by the author, and this is my honest opinion.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant delivers an epic prequel to her long-running and critically acclaimed Dark Universe series.
Passion’s magic ignites a fire too hot to touch—and too wicked to die…
The stars have always called to Ailis, beckoning her to see what other realms were out there. She’s told its impossible, but that doesn’t stop her need to explore beyond what others believe. Ailis never expected to change history by creating the first doorway to another realm. She certainly never imagined opening that door to find a commanding dragon who shifts into a man. She’s irresistibly drawn to Lennox, powerless against the yearning of her body and the longing of her heart.
Magic might have chosen Lennox as King of Dragon Kings, but it’s a position he’s never wanted. Until the day a new being arrives—and irrevocably changes his life. The closer he gets to the fearless, ravishing woman, the more he fights the passion that flares between them. He lives only for his duty, but one fiery kiss unleashes a firestorm of desire that will ripple across eons and realms. Fate might have brought them together, but will it also tear them apart?
The origins of the Dark Kings/Dragon Kings and the entire Dark Universe is finally revealed.
This is the first book in Tracy Sumner’s new series The League of Lords, with a whole new world for her to develop. We meet Piper Scott, who sees Auras and can heal and Julian Alexander who is a type of psychic. Piper’s grandfather was the man who created the League of Lords to help good combat evil, and he rescued Julian from London’s underbelly when Julian was a child. Julian has promised her grandfather years ago when they were children to stay away from Piper, and he’s done that. But now, since her grandfather was murdered the forces of evil are looking for Piper to use her power to heal to advance their cause. Julian is now in charge of the League, and has been “collecting” people who’ve been persecuted because they have magic, and bringing them to the estate he has purchased. Now, after 3 years, Piper is looking for Julian, to help him with the League, and also because she has loved him since they met as children.
Tracy Sumer has done a good job of building the bones of this world that surrounds 17th century London. She mixes in the way London would have been at that time and then adds in the people who could do magical things who come from all walks of life. I didn’t notice any writing or grammatical errors, and Ms. Sumner does an excellent job of describing people and places. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a series starter. I didn’t care for some of the interactions between Piper and Julian- they both are written more like 20th century people. But the book is entertaining, and I continued onto book 2.
I was given an ARC of the book by the author/publisher through BookSirens and this is my honest opinion.
This next entry into Mandy M. Roth’s Grimm Cove series reminds me of Book 5, Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck. We meet Jonathan Harker, a wolf shifter-vampire hybrid who is working to defeat the evil that is still trying to take over the human world. Willa Murray (twin of Mina) is descended from Wilhelmina Murray (from the Bram Stoker book). But she doesn’t think she has any abilities. And so, our story starts about 20 years in the past. The main characters have their initial meeting, but don’t get the other person’s name. Mandy M. Roth weaves an intricate storyline, tying characters from previous books, and incidents that have happened in the past into a cohesive story. It flows smoothly from our characters past into events that are happening now. This is a very enjoyable read, but readers should have already read the previous books, or you will be lost when characters pop into the story. A Timeline of major events would be nice, but the author has created a world that is familiar but also so much more. Spend the time and read this series!
I was given an ARC by the author through Booksprout and this is my honest opinion.
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